


At a Fancy Restaurant

by DoctorTrekLock



Series: Resolution19 [31]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/M, Fancy dinners, M/M, Matchmaking, Not a Gay Panic, Sirius is so oblivious it's not even funny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-30 13:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19854364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorTrekLock/pseuds/DoctorTrekLock
Summary: "Padfoot, mate," James began seriously. "You've been my best friend since primary school. There's no one I trust more to stand up with me when I marry the love of my life.""Yes, yes, fine," Sirius agreed impatiently. "But that doesn't explain why I need to be herewhile you're proposing. I mean, moral support is one thing, Prongs, but this might be excessive."





	At a Fancy Restaurant

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “It’s not a double date, we’re just third and fourth wheeling.”  
> Source: <https://doctortreklock.tumblr.com/post/130059129307/random-sentence-starters>  
> Title: "Caillou: At a Fancy Restaurant" by Claire St-Onge (book)
> 
> Originally posted July 17, 2019 on [Tumblr](https://doctortreklock.tumblr.com/post/186368643017/at-a-fancy-restaurant-july-17-2019)

"Are you sure I need to be here, Prongs?" Sirius whispered loudly, futilely attempting to loosen his black bow tie.

"Yes," his best friend said firmly. James lifted back the heavy velvet curtain again, peering past it into the dimly lit, but lushly appointed dining room of the swankiest hotel in London.

"Are you sure?" Sirius persisted. "Because I know you're getting cold feet, but that doesn't mean you need to drag me along."

James frowned at the room, then dropped the curtain and looked at Sirius. "Padfoot, mate," he began seriously. "You've been my best friend since primary school. There's no one I trust more to stand up with me when I marry the love of my life."

"Yes, yes, fine," Sirius agreed impatiently. "But that doesn't explain why I need to be here _while you're proposing_. I mean, moral support is one thing, Prongs, but this might be excessive."

James lifted the curtain to peek out again, waving a hand dismissively at Sirius. "It'll be fine. She's bringing someone too."

"What?" Sirius exclaimed, not bothering to keep his voice low. "She's doing _what_?"

"Bringing someone along," James said breezily. "Oh," he breathed, suddenly still. "I see her. C'mon."

James stepped into the dining room and Sirius followed him closely, trying to interrogate James in a hiss as they crossed the carpeted floor to where Lily was standing by the maître d'. "Prongs, mate, _James_ , are you sure--"

"Lily!" James exclaimed, raising his arms to embrace his girlfriend in a light hug. "You look amazing," he told her, without so much as a glance at her dark green sheath dress.

Lily laughed gently. "Thank you, James. You look _dashing_ as well." She tugged lightly on the corner of his bowtie to straighten it.

Then she looked over his shoulder at Sirius. "And _Sirius_ ," she said. "So good to see you, too. I'm glad you could make it."

Before Sirius could stop her, his best friend's girlfriend had given him a quick hug before taking his arm and gesturing back past James. "And I'm sure you know Remus."

Of course he knew Remus. The three of them - James, Sirius, and Remus - had only been best friends since Ms. McGonagall's second year class. He and Remus had a standing appointment for Friday night drinks at the Leaky.

Though the man Lily was gesturing to couldn't _possibly_ be his Moony - well, _their_ Moony, properly. Remus was dressed to the nines, cutting a handsome figure in his own crisp tuxedo. Now, Sirius might have been raised in formalwear, and James was comfortable in it, but Sirius had to admit to himself that neither of them was a patch on how _Remus_ looked in a tux. His snow white shirt was crisp; his steel grey jacket and pants were smooth; and the charcoal cummerbund and bowtie set the whole thing off to perfection.

Lily squeezed his arm slightly, and Sirius realized he was staring and Remus was starting to look a bit uncomfortable. He ran his hand over the bottom of his face casually (not finding any drool, thankfully) before sliding on a charming smile and waving across the six feet that separated them. "Hey, Moony."

Remus gave him a relieved smile and small wave in return. "Hey, Padfoot."

The maître d' called their party and Lily let go, returning to James, where he had an arm out gallantly awaiting her. As she turned away, Sirius caught a glimpse of a smug, scheming smile on her face. Not to be outdone by James, Sirius gave an exaggerated half-bow and gestured for Remus to go first. "After you."

"Thanks," Remus said dryly, following after Lily and James.

It was only after Sirius had straightened up and followed that he realized he was now staring at the breadth of Moony's shoulders in the tuxedo jacket. Had he always been that solid? Sirius shuffled through his memories, but all he could conjure up was the stick-thin Moony from their secondary school classes who kept missing class for medical appointments and hospital stays. When had _that_ Moony become _this_ Moony?

\--

Dinner was drawing to a close and Sirius was no closer to discovering the answer than he had been watching Moony's shoulders shift under the fine fabric of his jacket.

The conversation had been wide-ranging, covering everything from James's promotion at the Ministry to Lily's latest cases, Sirius's new motorcycle, and Remus's most recent batch of uni students. Throughout it all, James had kept getting distracted by staring at Lily, who had stared right back, leaving Sirius to hold up the conversation with Moony until James and Lily came back to their senses. James seemed genuinely distracted at times - which was understandable, given the ring box in his pocket - but Lily kept eyeing Sirius and Remus with satisfaction in between bouts of getting lost in James's eyes.

Partway through his beef wellington, it occurred to Sirius that maybe he and Remus had been lured here under false pretenses. He had choked at the thought and waved off the concerned looks from the table and the "Are you all right, Sirius?" he'd gotten from Remus, burying the very notion in an overly large gulp of expensive wine.

 _It's not a double date_ , Sirius told himself sternly. _We're just third and fourth wheeling_.

After the waiter had cleared the table, James stood and straightened his jacket. "Lily, would you care to go for a walk with me? I believe there's a balcony with a wonderful view where we might take in the moonlight." Lily agreed, but before they left, James added - with a small sly smile of his own - "Why don't the two of you order dessert? We might be a minute."

Then they swanned off, leaving Sirius gaping at his so-called _friend_ who had apparently been _matchmaking_ with his girlfriend the whole time! "Moral support, my arse," he muttered.

Remus laughed. "I'm sure they'll be fine." He glanced at the dessert menu. "Chocolate cake sound good to you? I'm too full for a whole slice myself, but I must admit to being a bit peckish."

Sirius was now gaping at Moony. Either he had no idea what was going on - which Sirius didn't believe, because Moony was the brightest of all of them - or... "You knew the whole time," he exclaimed.

"That James was going to propose?" Remus frowned. "I thought everyone knew that. He practically admitted it last Christmas."

Sirius waved him off impatiently. "No, of course not, don't be ridiculous, of course he was going to propose, he's wanted to since eighth year. No," he continued. "No, Moony, I'm saying you knew about this, this, _matchmaking_ nonsense the whole time!" He emphasized his point with an accusatory finger.

"Oh, is that all," Remus said calmly, taking a sip of his water, but there was a slightly flush to his cheeks that Sirius wasn't convinced was from the wine.

"What do you mean _is that all_ ," Sirius hissed.

"I mean," Remus said, carefully not looking anywhere near Sirius, "that Lily has been trying to set us up since midsummers."

"What happened at midsummers?" Sirius asked, confused. He didn't remember much of anything from that day. Except, of course, for how Sirius had pushed James in the pool and Remus had laughed and Sirius had gotten distracted and James had managed to pull him into the water in retaliation without any resistance.

"I told Lily I'd been in love with you since primary," Remus said, and there was definitely a flush in his cheeks now.

Shocked, Sirius stared at Remus until he looked up and met his eyes.

"No pressure," Remus added, his voice hardly warbling at all.

Sirius swallowed around a suddenly dry throat. He wasn't sure what to say. Moony had been one of his best friends for almost two decades, but he'd had no idea that the other man had harbored any shred of romantic feelings towards him whatsoever.

 _Don't freak out, don't freak out_ , Sirius told himself firmly. _Moony is my best friend and gay panics are sooo 2008._

Remus was watching him now, waiting in trepidation for a reaction, so Sirius dropped his gaze to the empty table where his plate had been, frantically thinking. Remus might like _him_ , but there wasn't anything there on _Sirius's_ end, was there?

He hurriedly scanned year after year of memories, looking this time for any reaction on his own side to Moony. He found his almost neurotic tracking of Moony's haircut schedule and the queasy feeling whenever he'd seen Moony and then-boyfriend Frank Longbottom together. Sirius added that to the way he'd frozen at midsummers at the sound of Moony's laughter and the matching paralysis from seeing his best friend in a tux. Plus several dozen hazy wet dreams with firm, freckled skin. And the way Sirius kind of wanted to find out what the flush on Moony's skin tasted like.

So there might actually be something there then.

Sirius shook himself slightly, took another overly large drink, and signaled for the waiter.

The man appeared out of thin air. "Any dessert for you, gentlemen? Or perhaps more wine?"

Sirius looked at Remus. Remus looked back, waiting stoically for his response. "A slice of chocolate cake, please," Sirius told him, keeping his eyes fixed on Remus. "With two forks. I'm sharing with my date."

Remus's grin was bright enough to light up the entire room and make Sirius's chest leap funny.

Oh yeah, there was definitely something there.


End file.
